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Oct 16
Sukkot: Working Each Day to be Closer to the Lord
Sukkot, unlike the rest of the pilgrimage festivals, does not commemorate any specific historical event. On Sukkot, we rather celebrate...
Oct 13
Yom Kippur: A Meaningful Fast, a Significant Life Change
It was the time between Musaf and Mincha on Yom Kippur, and young Daniel Shapiro went to see his Rabbi. "Rabbi Pollak, you must help me....
Oct 2
Rosh Hashanah: Time for Great Decisions
Gathering once again in this beautiful Sanctuary, in this Beit Kneset, a house of assembly for so many years and a synagogue that has...
Apr 19
April 2024 | President's Message
Another Purim celebration has gone down in history! Watch for the photos in next month’s issue. Rabbi Geier and Rabbi Schaktman shared...
Apr 19
How can we Celebrate Freedom in World of Injustice?
We truly feel and believe that we are free. Are we being naïve?
Mar 1
Parashat Ki Tisa: Finding Value in Uncertainty
In 3 more weeks, we will have gone through Ta'anit Esther, the half-fast that we observe from dawn on the eve of Purim until the festival...
Dec 8, 2023
Parashat Vayeshev: From Envy to Enlightenment
There is no doubt that envy is a feeling that generates discomfort, both in the one who feels it and in the one who receives it. It...
Oct 5, 2023
Parashat Shemini Atzeret: Counting the Mitzvot
How many mitzvot are there? I am not referring to how many we fulfill or should fulfill, as some argue that there are mitzvot related to...
Sep 28, 2023
Parashat Shabbat Sukkot: The Tradition of Sharing Your Dwelling
It is the first night in the sukkah, and what better way to celebrate than also observing Shabbat? The book of Vayikra (Leviticus) says:...
Sep 21, 2023
Parashat Ha'azinu: We are a People of Music
A Hasidic tale recounts that when the Baal Shem Tov sensed that a calamity was approaching for his people, he would retreat to a place in...
Sep 14, 2023
Parashat Rosh Hashanah: The Two Beings Who Live Inside All of Us
תִּקְע֣וּ בַחֹ֣דֶשׁ שׁוֹפָ֑ר בַּ֜כֶּ֗סֶה לְי֣וֹם חַגֵּֽנוּ Sound the shofar on the New Moon, on the appointed time for the day of our...
May 30, 2022
Shavuot 5782
The year was 1935 and the Spanish government was making elaborate plans to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the Rambam's birth....
Apr 26, 2022
Counting the Omer 5782
Pesach is over. We are in full count of the Omer. A custom that we usually leave aside for "those who comply", or "for the orthodox", or...
Apr 16, 2022
Pesach 5782—Shirat Hayam
Without a doubt this is a special Friday. In Israel it is decidedly the last day of Passover, of a Passover that was characterized by...
Apr 9, 2022
The value of being liberated
The variety of values of the Passover holiday is enormous. Let's choose one to take with us on this Kabbalat Shabbat prior to Pesach....
Feb 27, 2022
Purim 5782
“The Jews accepted and undertook, they and all of their seed and all who were joining them, without fail, to observe these two days,...
Nov 25, 2021
Hannukah 5782
Hanukkah is a beautiful holiday on the Jewish calendar. The celebration begins on Kislev 25, which this year falls on November 28th at...
Aug 29, 2018
A mass confession to everything
Multiple times during the course of our Yom Kippur services we recite the confessional, the Viddui, and the Al Chets. Together, they...
May 31, 2015
Shalosh Regalim
The shalosh regalim, or pilgrimage festivals, are the central holidays mandated by Torah. Each of these three celebrations - Pesach,...
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